3/6/12

Have you ever made peanut butter cookies with peanut flour? I didn't either, and I was pleasantly surprised at how tasty peanut flour is. Actually I prefer it over regular flour for many baking items: cakes, cookies, muffins, etc.. But then I heard that Trader Joe's isn't making the peanut flour anymore? Is this true? That was a quick fad. I have to find another good source for peanut flour. Anyone have recommendations?
Warning: these pb cookies are GOOD. I made about 12 cookies, ate 6, then ate 3 more, then finally someone else finished them off--all in a matter of hours. You've been warned.

I'm sure you recognize these cookies from another post? The first time I made these cookies (almost flour less pb cookies, everyone raved about them and they became the hit of the web). Now with these cookies, they are completely flour less, so those with gluten allergies can rejoice. And if you don't like the heat in the cookies, you can easily swap out the cayenne for coriander. The addition of coriander is wonderful, like a small flavor boost, that makes people go "hmm, what is that taste...I can't quite put my finger on it but I love it". I've made them both ways: with heat and with coriander; can't decide which I prefer I as I love them both. The peanut flavor is so deep and intense with the peanut flour.

Cook notes:
This recipe makes a small batch (about 12-15), if you want more, just double all the ingredients. Please use your own judgment when using the amount of cayenne or coriander. I used bittersweet chocolate, but you could use milk or semi-sweet—keep in mind, I felt the cookies tasted off using milk chocolate. The cookies have to sit in fridge for at least an hour to come together; don’t let them sit in fridge overnight as they become very dry. This is a dry cookie, and will a tiny bit hard to roll. Also they are delicate and tend to break apart if you make them big. So try not to make the dough balls bigger than a tablespoon size. Using chocolate is optional. If you do use the chocolate chips, keep in mind I found it easiest to make a well in the cookie dough ball, place in a couple chips, and when done baking, take a chop stick or other pointy tool to swirl around the warm chocolate chips.

In a small bowl add the peanut flour, baking soda, cayenne, and salt and mix, set aside.
In a small bowl crack egg open and beat.
In a mixer or by hand, combine peanut butter and sugars until well combined.
Add egg to the cookie mixture, mix well.
Add in the flour mixture, by sprinkling it over the cookie dough, not just depositing it in one large dump. Mix till just combined.

Cover bowl and let it sit in fridge for about an hour. Do not let this sit overnight as the dough becomes very dry!
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Roll into tablespoon (or smaller) sized balls and place on non-stick cookie sheets or greased cookie sheets. With your finger or end of spatula, make a small well in middle of cookie dough. This is where you will place a couple chocolate chips in. If you don’t want to add chocolate then just flatten dough ball a bit and using a fork make a cross-cross pattern, optional of course.

Bake for 10 minutes, until lightly browned. These cook up very fast, so I really wouldn’t go past the 10-12 minute mark.
Using the end of a chop stick or other fine pointy tip, swirl it around the chocolate chips to smooth out the warm chips. This should also get the chocolate a bit glossier too.
Cool on a baking sheet for a while.
The cookies are fragile and tend to break.
Should make about 12-15 cookies (small batch). If you want more, just double all the ingredients.

"But then I heard that Trader Joe's isn't making the peanut flour anymore? Is this true? That was a quick fad." <-- yes. I did a blog post on it about...a year ago. Gasp. It's been that long since the San Diego TJ's have carried it and it's been phased out. People can order peanut flour online if they want (I know you'll get asked)

Ohhhh my God. You're going to have every American expat on the planet drooling into their keyboard! And now I have something to do with the peanut butter my family sent, since the bread here doesn't toast up like I want it to. YUM.

oh man. i have a bag of peanut flour that i haven't opened b/c they stopped carrying it. this might make me change my ways. and i do have the heat is on pb... ;) although i'm intrigued by the coriander addition!!

Cooks Illustrated makes a peanut cookie where they put peanuts and some of the flour in the food processor to make peanut flour. Since you only need a small amount, maybe you could process some peanuts with a little of the sugar.

Is peanut flour like almond meal in that it's just the nuts ground finely? If so, I'm wondering if you could make your own. Although, the trick would be to grind the peanuts well enough before it all turned into peanut butter. These cookies look awesome!

I love love love peanut butter cookies!! Seriously, the cookie monster's got nothing on me, when it comes to them. I also love adding a savoury component to cookies, to heighten the sweetness -- these are perfect!!

about vanilla sugar blog

Unique eats, creative recipes, as simple as possible.What drives me to create? Seeing dishes in restaurants, meals created on TV, recipes in cookbooks/online, and I always think to myself why didn’t they add this or why did they leave out that? Love to question, love to research, and love to learn about combining different flavors and textures in recipes.Recipe creations please email: vanillasugarblog@aol.com